NTYR: Nigerias future is 2019 Onyeizu
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by edith ike-eboh6 one must persist in the present only then will what we seek to achieve tomorrow happen1 truly in most countries of the world the youths are gradually becoming presidents members of legislative houses and cabinet ministers among others1 however in nigeria prior to the signing into law of the not too young to run ntyr act the hope of any young man aspiring to the leadership position in the countrys polity was a herculean task1 of the few young persons who managed to grab political positions majority of them were either children of renowned politicians sponsored by a god-father who is an elder or very loyal to an older politician1 this however does not include the few that genuinely got the position because of their qualification professional expertise and character1 in nigeria presently the least average age of people in political positions is 50 years1 today not content anymore with the way things are going many young people appear to have become tired realizing that they have only been tools to attain power many young nigerians are readying to challenge the older politicians at the poll1 tired of waiting for a future that never comes they have decided to seek elective office in 20191 there are those whose only claim to seeking office is their age. entitled they feel since they are young and having been promised leadership positions for many years then they should be given the chance to run for office freely1 however oneman chinedu onyeizu does not feel he belong to the above category and is determied that even without the ntyr he can join the race1 i know it will not be easy he said. as a matter of fact i do not expect it to be easy but the time to act is now. the older politicians have failed us we cannot keep sitting on the sidelines and be tools for their continuous hold on power1 but then when you follow his lifes trajectory from such tough beginnings how he finished secondary school with distinctions and graduated from the federal university of technology in owerri where he studied petroleum engineering it becomes clearer the kind of person chinedu is the kind that can surmount such modest beginnings and turn it into one great success story1 when nigeria holds its next national election in 2019 chinedu onyeizu is hoping to represent the people of abia south at the senate1 since his nysc years in bayelsa state in 2003 where his empathy for the poor and less privileged led to a humanitarian work that helped restore the sight of over 67 cataract-blind bayelsans its been one success story to another1 his desire to help the over 67 blind bayelsans began with a relationship with a 75-year-old blind man. normally many nysc members before him would take the easier paths and do projects that didnt require much effort but not chinedu1 to restore the sight of the people of his host community meant he had to invite specialists from foreign countries1 luckily he found an organization that does it free in the uk. but he needed the state governments involvement to help out with their transportation within the state and to ensure their safety in a region where militants are known to kidnap foreign nationals for ransom1 from this point it became a slippery slope of challenges. government officials that normally should be excited became stumbling blocks with almost everyone wanting something in return before they could offer any assistance1 helping to restore the sight of those blind bayelsans taught me something very important. i learned doggedness and that when you want something if you persevere you will eventually get what you want chinedu said1 having been stonewalled by difficult government officials and feeling frustrated chinedu kept pushing. his persistence eventually paid off on the last day when the specialists arrived at the port harcourt international airport and were on their way to bayelsa1 someone linked him with former nigerias president goodluck jonathan who was at the time the deputy governor of bayelsa. jonathan granted his request for transportation and security. the rest is history1 for several years the world over youths have been consistently referred to as the leaders of tomorrow giving hope to young people that one day they would be at the helms of affairs of their various countries1 during this period he developed a method to convert flared natural gas to hydrate balls and also proposed an innovative means of transporting the gas balls to shore for re-gasification and electricity generation1 it is no surprise that in 2006 he went on to win the best young engineer in west africa award for developing a geospatial model for oil spill tracking in nigerias oil-rich niger-delta region1 the award was given by uk based pennwell petroleum group organizers of the offshore west africa conference1 in 2007 chinedu joined chevron nigeria as a petroleum engineer and during his time there he worked in eight upstream petroleum asset development units and led many multi-functional teams across the globe1 he was also assigned to manage several multi-million dollar projects for the organization and in 2012 he was selected to represent chevrons mid-africa business units in louisiana usa gulf of mexico to lead her upstream workflow transformation project1 nine years after joining chevron in 2016 and in an act of selfless service to nigeria chinedu left the high paying job to search for a permanent solution to nigerias frequent fuel scarcity and distribution problem1 this drive to help solve one of the countrys pertinent economic challenges led him to mit where he was selected as a sloan fellow and in his research again suggested actionable recommendations that could solve nigerias fuel distribution problems1 his recommendations was published on the july 2017 edition of mits expert blog and passed on to the government for consideration1 the next year in 2017 chinedu co-founded an africa focused think tank and strategy consulting group called afri-pera. the company works with national and regional governments in africa to solve their policy and development challenges1 these days he spends his time on the board of rhino group of companies and the chinedu onyeizu foundation cof while remaining an active member of the international society of petroleum engineers and represents chevron on the global production and operations award committee of the organization1 you will agree that all these are no easy feat for a small-town aba boy whose early education was under mango trees1 onyeizu is not only young more importantly he is vibrant and a good replacement to the current old recycled politician whose track record at the senate has been poor selfish representation1 from his humble beginnings in the village of abayi umuocham chinedu onyeizu has shown that with persistence and an understanding of urgency anyone can be anything they set their mind to1 he said there is no greater achievement to giving back to an aba that made me what i am today. i am proudly an aba boy. aba has given me so much and it is only proper that i give back1 also his campaign manager and long-time friend mr. ojo maduekwe maintained that listening to onyeizu one gets the feeling of a man whos had to surmount challenges in all that hes achieved in life beginning from his early school years in nigeria1 according to maduekwe this culminated in him going abroad to further his education in some of the best higher institutions in the world such as the harvard kennedy school heriot-watt university and the massachusetts institute of technology mit1 he said born and raised in aba abia state chinedu began his education in a village primary school at abayi umuocham. when he told me during our conversation that they were taught only mathematics and english and that classes were held under mango trees it sounded like something made out of folklore1 absolutely not this is not those tales by moonlight kind of stories this is real. i schooled in the village and we had our classes under mango trees. this is the kind of humble beginning that was my childhood he assured me chuckling1 as we rounded up the meeting chinedu seemed to remember something vital1 before i forget bayelsa also taught me something about urgency. the future might be tomorrow but the time to act is always now1 after nysc in 2004 chinedu joined the petroleum trust development fund ptdf gas research group as a research associate and for three years worked on innovative ways to harness nigerias deepwater stranded gas resources1

ICAN ready to pay Kims bills in Singapore
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the intention to spend the prize money is in line with the work the group has done to lobby for the u.n. treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons which was adopted by 122 nations but not any of the nuclear weapons states or north korea1 nobel prize winning anti-nuclear campaign group ican has offered to pay for the cost of the historic summit between north korean leader kim jong un and u.s. president donald trump including the hotel bill for the north korean leader1 the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons ican which won last years nobel peace prize said it was willing to use its prize money to pay for any accommodation or meeting space needed to make the summit a success1 the nobel peace prize included a cash prize and we are offering funds from the prize to cover the costs for the summit in order to support peace in the korean peninsula and a nuclear-weapon-free world ican official akira kawasaki said1 this is a historic meeting and once in a generation opportunity to help establish a world free of the threat of nuclear weapons kawasaki told reuters by telephone from tokyo1 kawasaki heads the tokyo-based peace boat one of icans 10 international steering groups1 the offer comes after a media report that the cash-strapped north may have trouble bearing the cost of its leaders stay in singapore and the large delegation of security and support staff for the meeting scheduled for june 121 its not about paying for luxury rooms for the leader of the dprk or anyone thats not our intention kawasaki said. dprk is short for the democratic peoples republic of korea the formal name of north korea1 kim chang son the de facto chief of staff for the north korean government was seen at the fullerton five-star hotel in singapore last week during a visit to meet u.s officials to work out the logistics for the summit1 the fullerton was north koreas lodging of choice the washington post has reported. the presidential suite may set the government back by at least 8000 singapore dollars 6000 a night it said1 kims trip to singapore which would be the furthest he will have traveled as leader poses logistical challenges such as the likely use of soviet-era aircraft to carry him and his limousine as well as dozens of security and other staff1 singapore a small but wealthy southeast asian city-state has said it would bear the cost of the summit to do its part to ensure a successful meeting1 the nobel prize award differs from year to year and in 2017 the prestigious prize was set at 9 million swedish crown 1.02 million1

Offa Robbery: Kwara State Governor reacts to police indictment
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offa robbery kwara state governor reacts to police indictment5 offa bank robbery4 bukola saraki3 offa robbery2

What suspects said to implicate Saraki – Police
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bukola saraki3 offa robbery2 what suspects said to implicate saraki – police1 senate president1

Nigeria on right path Osinbajo
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so there was a genuine effort to ensure that we are able to not just ramp up the production of rice but also milling and we found that the private sector responded to that and we found the big millers wacot and others. dangote is now investing about a million metric tonnes of milling capacity. i think that at this stage agriculture has recorded significant improvement1 vice president yemi osinbajo has said that the administration was on the right path in improving nigerias business environment and diversifying the economy1 osinbajo said that there had been a lot of damage to the environment in terms of business and others but effecting the correction would take a while1 he said that the administration is barely three years old but is focused on doing the right thing1 the moment you have the right people and you put the right structures in place you can do a lot and i think we have been blessed with an incredibly good team1 we wanted us to be much farther ahead in terms of manufacturing. but a lot of these things are also infrastructure constraints that cannot be developed overnight which explains why we are investing heavily in infrastructure1 we focus a great deal on diversifying agriculture manufacturing weve focused on trying to diversify as much as possible and we think that that is the path to go. there is no other way of doing this1 and if you look at the figures there has been tremendous improvement even export of raw materials agriculture produce even manufacturing has improved. i think that we are on the right path. i am convinced that we are going to stay the course1 akande reproduced the interview conducted by mr david pilling the africa editor of financial times on thursday may 31 at eko hotels and suites1 below is the transcript1 first the nature of the crisis of course even beyond low oil prices we were also experiencing considerably reduced oil production. at some point we were producing less than a million barrels of oil per day that being the major source of revenue at the time. but i think that what we did during that period was also very important in bringing the strong outcome that we are seeing today1 in terms of corruption i think that we were able to deal with grand corruption. by that i mean the sort of corruption where you found huge sums of money missing from the treasury and all of that. and because we were able to control grand corruption we were able to do more with far less. so for example we invested n1.3 trillion in 2016 on capital for the very first time in almost 10 years of the countrys economic history1 so if we were able to invest more when oil prices at some point were 50 or 60 than when oil prices were at 110 114 especially on infrastructure and capital im sure anyone could say that there is something wrong with that. i think we managed to do far more with less1 if you look at the different sectors lets take agriculture for example we have recorded very significant growth in agriculture. we are looking to gain at least 3.6 per cent growth in agriculture. that is particularly important to us because in thinking of diversification of our economy agriculture is of course a fitting point and we closed that gap. take rice for example we were importing rice in the order of about 1.6 billion a year which is about 5 million every day. today we are down to impo1 no it is creating the right environment. for example the anchors borrowers programme was an important programme in getting people back to the farms and also which is one very part of this whole process we supported the big millers in being able to increase a lot of the paddy rice that was being produced1 osinbajo made the submission in an interview with the financial timess where he also said that the federal governments investment in infrastructure would improve local manufacturing capacity according to a script of the interview released by mr. laolu akande the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity1 also mining because of the focus on mining growth continued through the recession and growth has continued even now1 we are trying to create the right environment for manufacturing and for business generally. and we took time to focus on the business environment with our ease of doing business initiative and we worked on various areas including access to credit access to registration of title company registration taxation and all of those things1 we looked at all of the different areas in our ease of doing business with a view to making life easier to creating the right environment for manufacturing and for business generally. and weve recorded significant growth and this we are seeing in the growth that we are seeing today1 im sure you are familiar with how our world bank rating went up and we were also considered one of the best reforming countries in the world. of course there has been a lot of damage to the environment in terms of business and all that but correcting that would take a while dont forget that we this administration are barely three years old. and we are focused on doing the right thing.1 i think the one thing we wanted was for us to be much farther ahead in terms of manufacturing. but a lot of these things are also infrastructure constraints that cannot be developed overnight which explains why we are investing heavily in infrastructure rail road and power especially rail. this is the significant part of the investment that we are doing concessioning the lagos-kano to general electric the narrow gauge developing the standard gauge is important in terms of just movement of goods1 nigeria has one of the most vibrant private sectors. manufacturers associations in particular and several others felt that we shouldnt go into this without further consultations and we wanted to know exactly what specifically in terms of negotiations that will follow the signing of the framework. and it was the presidents opinion that it would be much wiser for us to suspend the signing until all of those engagements had been done to the satisfaction of the private sector. we work very closely1 for us it is important to sit back take a look at those negotiations first before heading into the framework which is really what we are doing at the moment. so where we are is that we are looking at the nitty gritty and we are trying to be sure how it is going to play for our private sector people for industry for trade etc. we are not saying we are going to renegotiate the framework the framework is already there. our greater concern is for the specifics. and we are at a point where before we1 first of all let me say that the nature of the security threats is asymmetric coping with it. and this is the same with countries all over the world coping with terrorism is the sort of thing that most countries are grappling with1 i think that we are dealing with that as well. and my take is that the way we are going about it is the right way in other words we are working with partners in the sub-region to ensure that we are able to stem the flow of small arms for example1 we are also working on developing our local capacity. one of the strong initiatives that we are pushing is community policing because a lot of the terrorism that you see are the sorts of opportunistic attacks that require local policing. and one of the strong initiatives that we are pushing is the whole question of the state police more local and community policing and we are working on those initiatives with the governors like in the national economic council which i have the privilege of chair1 for example in benue state we have deployed special forces now to several of the places where we have the disturbances. so it is an ongoing engagement and as i said asymmetric threat of this nature means that we just have to keep planning ahead as much as we can1 if you look at the herdsmenfarmers clashes it is a different type of problem to the issue of boko haram and it has to be dealt with differently. note that this crisis did not start with the buhari government. these clashes have been going on for years. i think we are at a point that we believe that the right response our response has to be robust to ensuring that we are able to keep communities safe which is what is going on. we are doing that in various parts of the north central1 i think that what we are doing is that we are managing our finances far better. today oil prices are about 80 a barrel. our reserves are at 47 billion which is the highest in about 10 years comparable to 2013 when oil prices were higher. so beside the sovereign wealth fund we have invested far more weve almost tripled our investment in the sovereign wealth fund1 i think the question about whether you spend or you dont spend is really more a question of how you manage the resources in the first place. for us i think that the management of resources has been a strong point. i think we have managed our resources well. which explains why we focus a great deal on diversifying agriculture manufacturing. weve focused on trying to diversify as much as possible and we think that it is the path to go. there is no other way of doing this1 and if you look at the figures there has been tremendous improvement in the export of raw materials agriculture produce even manufacturing has improved. i think that we are on the right path. i am convinced that we are going to stay the course1

Katsina state to set up Orphans Protection Desk CJ
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by shehu danjuma2 musa said that orphans deserved the support of well-meaning muslims1 the desk will serve as a complaint point for orphans that their relations seize their wealth after the demise of their parents he said in katsina1 danladi spoke during an orphans and needy endowment fund raising ceremony organised by the izalah islamic sect katsina branch on sunday1 he said the unit would be called orphans care desk for orphans and their mothers to lodge complaints against those who cheated them1 it has come to the knowledge of the state government and the ministry of justice that some people have formed the habit of cheating orphans of their wealth after the death of the parents1 the katsina state government is to establish an orphans protection desk in the state ministry of justice to protect the rights of orphans the chief judge justice musa danladi says1 in his remark the national chairman of muslims orphans protection committee alhaji abdullahi aminchi appealed to wealthy individuals and organisations to support orphans financially through donations to the fund1 aminchi a former deputy governor of katsina state said that the committee spent huge sums in providing succour for orphans during ramadan in 20171 he said the committee had established scholarship schemes to enable orphans to further their studies after the death of their parents1 in his contribution the chairman of izalah islamic sect in katsina state sheikh yakubu musa advised muslims to be their brothers keeper by assisting orphans and the needy1 the ministry of justice is ready to deal with such greedy relatives who had been cheating orphans in the state danladi said1

Police invite Saraki over Offa bank robbery, Kwara Chief of staff arrested
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police explained why the chief of staff and the personal assistant to governor abdulfatah ahmed were also arrested2 police spokesman jimoh moshood also announced the arrest of mr. yusuf abdulwahab the chief of staff to governor abdulfatah ahmed and alabi olalekan his personal assistant political as investigations over the gruesome robbery deepened2 the police therefore wanted to interrogate the senator who is number 3 person in the order of protocol in the country. the police did not give a specific time they wanted saraki to report2 the senate president sen. bukola saraki is being invited by the nigeria police force to report to the force intelligence response team office at guzape abuja to answer to the allegations levelled against him from the confessions of the five 5 gang leaders namely ayoade akinnibosun ibukunle ogunleye adeola abraham salawudeen azeez niyi ogundiran and some of the other seventeen 17 suspects arrested for direct involvement and active participation in the offa bank robbery and the gruesome killing of2 the police in the statement appeared to have dropped hints on what they wanted to ask saraki about as they claimed that the five men who were the leaders of the bandits admitted confessed and volunteered statements that they were political thugs of the senate president federal republic of nigeria sen. bukola saraki and the executive governor of kwara state alh. abdulfatah ahmed2 according to the police the five gang leaders further confessed during investigation that they are political thugs under the name youth liberation movement a.k.a good boys admitted and confessed to have been sponsored with firearms money and operational vehicles by the senate president sen. bukola saraki and the governor of kwara state alh. abdulfatah ahmed2 the police claimed five of the bandits arrested and who have made confessions during interrogations indicted the senate president2 the exhibit vehicle was subsequently recovered from the premises of the min. of environmental and forestry in ilorin kwara state. while the sticker plate number with inscription saraki kwara state of harmony removed from the vehicle was recovered from one adeola omiyale who drove the said lexus jeep to government house ilorin immediately after the bank robbery2 the personal assistant political to the executive governor of kwara state mr. alabi olalekan who is privy to information that the police is looking for the lexus jeep as an exhibit used in the offa bank robbery directed one adeola omiyale to relocate the lexus jeep to government house ilorin. the pa political is currently in police custody and has made useful statement assisting the police in further investigation into the case2 a revolver pistol and pump action gun were recovered by the police investigation team from the personal assistant political to the executive governor of kwara state mr. alabi olalekans farm where he directed his brother to hide them after his arrest by the police2 in order to conceal evidence the chief of staff to the executive governor of kwara state mr. yusuf abdulwahab who has been arrested and taken into police custody arranged the removal of the sticker plate number with inscription saraki kwara state of harmony from the exhibit vehicle2 azeez abdullahi m 27yrs principal suspect1 a lexus jeep gx-300 ash colour with a sticker plate number with inscription saraki kwara state of harmony used by the gang leader ayoade akinnibosun during the bank robbery and the killing of the 33 innocent persons was taken to government house ilorin on 16th may 2018 where the sticker plate number with inscription saraki kwara state of harmony was removed before another plate number reg. no. kwara kma 143 rm registered in the name of ayoade akinnibosun the overall commander of the offa bank1 the police said today they have invited senate president bukola saraki over 5 april multiple bank robbery in offa kwara state during which 33 persons including nine policemen were killed1 the police gave an assurance that they will continue to ensure that the rule of law prevails in every case under investigation and every offender is brought to justice1 ayoade akinnibosun a.k.a ay m 37yrs gang leader coordinated the killings from oro irepodun lga kwara state1 ibikunle ogunleye m 36yrs gang leader killed two 2 persons. from oro irepodun lga kwara state1 adeola abraham m 35yrs gang leader killed five 5 persons. from oro irepodun lga kwara state1 salaudeen azeez m 49yrs gang leader killed two 2 persons. from oro irepodun lga kwara state1 niyi ogundiran m 37yrs gang leader killed two 2 persons latest confession. from oro irepodun lga kwara state1 michael adikwu m 30yrs sectional gang leader killed twenty two 22 persons mostly at the police station1 kabiru afolabi m 26yrs principal suspect1 omoseni kassim m 28yrs principal suspect1 kayode opadokun m 35yrs principal suspect1 kazeem abdulrasheed m 36yrs principal suspect1 the other hints dropped were the recovery of one toyota prado jeep with reg. no. 19kwgh belonging to the personal assistant political to the governor of kwara state and a sticker plate number with inscription saraki kwara state of harmony1 adewale popoola m 22yrs principal suspect1 adetoyese muftau m 23yrs principal suspect1 alexander reuben m 39yrs principal suspect1 richard buba terry m 23yrs principal suspect1 peter jasper kuunfa m 23yrs principal suspect1 ikechukwu ebuka nnaji m 29yrs principal suspect1 moses godwin m 28yrs principal suspect1 adeola omiyale m 38yrs. from isanlu isin town isin lga kwara state1 femi idowu m 34yrs1 alabi olalekan m 49yrs-pa political to executive governor kwara state1 yusuf abdulwahab m 58yrs chief of staff to executive governor kwara state1 all the exhibits recovered1 two 2 ak47 rifles1 two 2 barrette pistols1 one 1 pump action rifle1 one 1 revolver pistol in police custody in ilorin1 lexus rx300 jeep with reg. no. kwara kma 143 rm belonging to ayoade akinnibosun gang leader used for the bank robbery1 mercedes benz compressor with reg. no. lagos lt496 kja belonging to ayoade akinnibosun gang leader used for the bank robbery1 one 1 toyota prado jeep with reg. no. 19kwgh belonging to the pa political to the executive governor kwara state in police custody in ilorin1 one 1 toyota camry saloon car with reg. no. lrn 481 fe in police custody in ilorin1 the cash sum of six hundred thousand naira n600000.00 in police custody in ilorin1 four 4 phones of victims recovered1 one 1 sticker plate number with inscription saraki kwara state of harmony1 first bank offa ii guaranty trust bank offa iii eco bank offa iv zenith bank offa v union bank offa vi ibolo micro finance bank offa and vii the divisional police headquarters offa1

Lagos: Ambode clears N37.54bn pension arrears
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by bukola adetoye1 the lagos state pension commission laspec said gov. akinwunmi ambode of lagos state has paid a total of n37 546 billion to pensioners since 20151 according to a statement signed by the director-general of laspec mrs folashade onanuga on sunday in lagos the figure represented the total pension paid to 9045 retirees of the state1 the laspec director-general said the governor released n859 059 million to offset the accrued pension rights of 158 retirees under the contributory pension scheme cps in may1 she said earlier n859 059 million was paid to 158 public service retirees bringing the total pension paid by the governor since assumption of office to n37 546 billion1 she explained the governor had been releasing funds every month to off-set the backlog of pension to lagos retirees1 she said despite the high funding obligations of the current pension scheme the government was committed to offsetting the backlog of pension and would soon commence payment to 2016 retirees1 onanuga said the government was fine-tuning the process of rolling out benefits that would make life easier for retirees1 i however implore the retirees to study leaflets distributed by the state government on annuity and programmed withdrawal for receipt of monthly pension entitlements before picking their choice she said1

AfDB wants action against plastic pollution
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the african development bank afdb has called for a collective action against plastic pollution in africa1 the communication officer climate change and green growth department of the bank mrs sonia borrini said on sunday in abuja that plastic pollution is alarming and dangerous to the environment. . her call is coming on the heels of the 2018 world environment day slated for june 5 with the theme beat plastic pollution.1 every year 500 billion plastic bags are used around the world 13 million tonnes of plastic leak into the ocean and 17 million barrels of oil are used on plastic production1 about100000 marine animals are killed by plastics and 83 per cent of tap water are found to contain plastic particles1 in particular it is impacting the ocean which is the lungs of our planet providing most of the oxygen we breathe major source of food and medicines and a critical part of the biosphere afdb said1 afdb said it would join the rest of the world to celebrate the world environment day on june 5 as well as the world ocean day on june 8 with focus on preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for a healthy ocean1 it said through this initiative the bank was reconfirming its commitment to playing a leadership role in ensuring environmental sustainability while supporting economic prosperity and social inclusion in africa1 according to the bank world environmental day wed 2018 is a call to action for africa to come together to combat plastic pollution one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time1 it said the celebration would afford stakeholders the opportunity to consider how they could make changes in their everyday lives to reduce the heavy burden of plastic pollution on the natural and human environment1 the bank said that the use of plastic had severe environmental and health consequences1

Tourism future of Nigeria UNWTO
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he said that africa is unwtos top priority in the area of tourism and investment promotion1 the united nations world tourism organisation unwto has declared tourism as the future of nigeria as the nation hosts the 61st unwto commission for africa caf conference1 mr zurab pololikashvili unwto secretary-general made the declaration in abuja at a pre-conference media briefing he jointly addressed with the minister of information and culture alhaji lai mohammed1 the news agency of nigeria nan reports pololikashvili and other executives of the organisation arrived in nigeria early sunday morning for the 61st unwto commission for africa caf conference holding from june 4 to june 6 in abuja1 nigeria last year won the right to host unwto-caf conference which is the gathering of all african ministers of tourism principal executives of the global tourism body and other stakeholders in the tourism sector1 pololikashvili said nigeria has lots of tourism potential to show to the world and the meeting would serve as a platform to showcase the country as continental tourism hub1 he commended the president muhammadu buharis administration for identifying tourism as one of the sectors for economic diversification1 he said that tourism is gaining weight as a development opportunity for the whole continent with its vast diversity of nature culture and its greatest vehicle for development1 pololikashvili said that tourism has huge potential to generate lasting development opportunities in africa and nigeria in particular if managed in the right ways1 the organisation has promised to support the country in developing the sector1 he mentioned some of the unwtos agenda for africa to include poverty alleviation climate change education and skills development and financing1 there are broad impact of tourism for the benefit of societies and its people and promoting tourism as a priority in national agendas he said1 the secretary-general said that unwto is planning to restore the training of journalists across african continent for better reportage1 the minister welcomed pololikashvili and his team to the country noting that nigeria is the first the secretary-general would be attending his first unwto-caf meeting since assumption of office in january 20181 mohammed said nigeria is all set to host the best unwto-caf meeting ever adding that all necessary preparations had been made to ensure a successful meeting1 we also expect an impressive attendance. as at today we have confirmation from 166 foreign delegates 26 ministers and 332 nigerian delegates excluding the gentlemen of the press1 several delegates have arrived and many more are expected in today he said1 the minister said that the theme of the meeting tourism statistics a catalyst for development fitted very well into our quest to improve on the nations tourism statistics for planning purposes and the ultimate development of tourism sector. nan1

England 2 - 1 Nigeria
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england 2 - 1 nigeria1

Three Nigerians found dead in New Delhi Flat
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three nigerians found dead in new delhi flat1 nigerians in india1

Odigie-Oyegun: Why I quit APC chairmanship race
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now that the convention committee has invited interested aspirants to obtain forms to contest various national positions in our party it has become necessary for me to state my position1 chief john odigie-oyegun national chairman of the all progressives congress apc has said that he will not be re-contesting the national chairmanship position in the forthcoming national convention slated for june 23 in the partys interest1 however he said that the tenure extension that was hitherto agreed by the partys national executive committee nec suffered a set-back following president muhammadu buharis opposition1 according to him the tenure extension would have helped to stabilise the party in the face of some of its challenges and may have prevented the crisis that followed its recent congresses in some states of the federation1 he said that some of the party leaders ought to have considered the tenure extension to be in the best interest of the party1 this he said would have ensured that the party go into the 2019 elections as a united fighting force rather than one that was potentially weakened by internal conflicts arising from competitive congresses and convention1 odigie-oyegun urged party leaders to close ranks and to make the party a strong fighting force ahead of the 2019 general elections1 he stated this on friday night in abuja while speaking with newsmen adding that his decision was taken after wide consultation with close political associates and family members and not because of intimidation1 i have consulted widely with my family friends and associates even though i had the desire to re-contest as the national chairman of the party1 i have decided that it is ultimately in the best interest of the party for me to withdraw from the race he said1 i believe that the party faces difficult days ahead and all critical stakeholders in its leadership would be required to bind together for a common purpose1 he advised that a less-contentious convention would be better for the party adding that he had always sought to be part of solving the partys problems1 i do not intend to be part of the problem for apc to solve. it is for this reason that i hereby declare that i will not be seeking re-election as the national chairman1 however i will continue to perform my functions as the national chairman of the party till my tenure officially ends on monday june 25 when a new set of party executives will be inaugurated odigie-oyegun said1

Face of police assassin at Kayode Fayemis reception
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adeyeye who returned to the party on tuesday after 12 years in the pdp also said i have returned home and my mission is to ensure that we kill gov. ayo fayose politically by burying him1 a chieftain of the all progressives congressapc mr opeyemi bamidele and an unidentified person were shot on friday in ado-ekiti at a reception for the candidate of the party dr kayode fayemi1 gov. rotimi akeredolu fayemi and a former minister of works dayo adeyeye were descending the stairs case at the secretariat when a policeman was said to have suddenly shot into the air to scare the surging crowd1 bamidele was said to have been shot on the hand in the ensuing melee while the other victim was also hit1 the two victims were hurriedly conveyed to a hospital where they are said to be under treatment1 the apc spokesperson in the state taiwo olatunbosun in a statement described the incident as a clear case of assassination attempt1 he claimed that the gunman had aimed his gun at fayemi and missed with the bullet hitting bamidele and the other victim1 he also claimed that the policeman was fake and an assassin1 but the police spokesman in the state caleb chukwuemeka said the command was still awaiting the report of the incident from its officers deployed to provide security at the reception1 fayemi and his entourage had earlier been received in ikere ekiti by a long convoy of vehicles and large crowd of party supporters resulting in a traffic snarl on the ado-ekiti akure road1 addressing the crowd akeredolu applauded the party members for putting behind them the post-primary crisis1 he said the huge crowd was indicative that the state had remained a stronghold of the apc1 fayemi has returned with full force to reclaim the land. he needs your support and this task shall be achieved in the mighty name of god he said1 fayemi in his response said we are here to work for ekiti and our party leaders and this we are going to do together because it is a collective responsibility1 we are going to work with everybody including those who just decamped to our party because we are one big family in apc1 we shall win by the grace of god. our case was like the case of a ram who moved backwards to garner more strength. we are here to rescue ekiti and it is a task we must achieve1 the news agency of nigeria nan reports that the reception which held at the apc secretariat in the ekiti capital had attracted a large crowd of party supporters1 we shall mobilise well to achieve this task and by the grace of god this is a must-win and must accomplished task for all of us1 nan reports that fayemis choice for deputy governor chief bisi egbeyemi was also in the entourage1 olatunbosuns statement1 fayemi survives assassination as ex-lawmaker others sustain gunshot wounds bloody politicking returned to ekiti state yesterdayfriday as former governor kayode fayemi survived assassination in ado-ekiti ekiti state capital.1 fayemi resigned his appointment on wednesday as the minister of mines and steel development and was returning to ekiti state on friday in a welcome party planned by his party the all progressives congress apc1 it was a smooth ride from akure airport to ikere-ekiti where thousands of supporters came out to give him a rousing welcome1 ikere-ekiti journey to ado-ekiti a distance of about nine kilometres lasted two hours in a heavy traffic that was punctuated by four gunmen suspected to be agents of the state government who strategically positioned themselves at the partys secretariat in ado-ekiti for the attack1 one of the assailants dressed in mobile police uniform was apprehended and he is now helping the police in their investigation1 they fired gunshots aimed at fayemi but hit a former lawmaker opeyemi bamidele after the former minister had taken a few steps forward before the bullets hit the target1 bamidele and other victims were immediately rushed to the ekiti state university teaching hospital ado-ekiti where doctors are responding to his treatment1 bamidele was fatally wounded in the attack while others also sustained various degrees of injuries1 other victims in the hospital included olabode joshua olanrewaju gbenga adebayo ogunjemilehin ogunmodede oluwole and alex adeleye1 taiwo olatunbosun1 publicity secretary1 june 1 20181

Video: Catholic Church commits to sexual abuse compensation
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the church is the first non-government institution to opt into the plan and estimates it will itself be liable for about one billion dollars 568 million in compensation2 mr tom donohue president of the business organisation of the chamber in a memo to the board of directors said a nafta withdrawal would kill as many as 1.8 million american jobs in the first year1 australias catholic church has committed to join the governments redress scheme of 3.8 billion australian dollars 2.2 billion for victims of child sexual abuse1 the un conference on trade and development says no fewer than 17 million africans left the continent in 2017 in search of greener pastures1 in its economic development in africa report the agency also said 5.5 million people moved to africa from other continents while some 19 million international migrants moved within africa boosting economic growth in the continent1 it urged the world to dispel misconceptions and harmful narratives targeting migration in africa1 americas chamber of commerce has predicted that president donald trumps strict stance on trade could put 2.6 million jobs at risk and possible us withdrawal from nafta the trade agreement with canada and mexico1 the move paves the way for compensation to be paid to people who were sexually abused as children by church figures and puts pressure on other institutions to follow suit1 the world health organisation says it commenced campaign to eliminate yellow fever in the country in february with the vaccination of two million people in internally displaced persons camps in borno and surrounding communities1 the organisations communications officer ms charity warigon said the campaign aimed to vaccinate 25 million nigerians in different parts of the country would continue to the end of the year and in the coming years1 the international organisation for migration and the european union have evacuated 186 more nigerians from libya1 mr ibrahim farinloye spokesperson for the national emergency management agency south-west zone said the returnees arrived in two batches at the murtala muhammed international airport lagos1 the un security council has extended by 45 days sanctions against south sudan1 the resolution passed 9 yes votes and six abstentions from the 15 member security council giving just enough votes for the draft to be adopted as resolution 24181 the resolution which threatens an arms embargo on south sudan would place a travel ban and asset freeze on six individuals high-ranking government officials and prominent rebel leaders unless the parties stop fighting and agree on a viable political agreement1

Looted funds enable opposition with mischief power
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president buhari however urged members of the organisation to continue to support his administration in recovering the looted resources as much as they can1 the opposition pose a formidable threat to the government of all progressives party apc because of the enormous looted resource in their possession president muhammadu buhari has alerted1 he made the allegation when he received members of buhari media organisation bmo at the presidential villa1 he claimed that the opposition looted so much money before he assumed office that his administration may not be able to recover all and might use same against his government1 the opposition now are sitting on incredible resources which i am afraid we cannot get at it all president buhari told the group1 for that reason they are in a position to sponsor mischief from different angles which in spite of the incumbency of the government we cannot absolutely stop1 president buhari said on friday that opposition was in possession of much resource that could sponsor mischief against his administration1 he further praised the support group for its steadfastness moral uprightness and sacrifice to the nation1 the group formerly known as buhari media support group was led to the villa by its national coordinator austin briamoh1 it comprises retired and serving media practitioners among others and was the media outfit of the all progressives congress apc presidential campaign council in 20151 it was later converted to buhari media support group bmsg after the elections and was renamed buhari media organisation earlier this year1 president buhari met with the group in company with the secretary to the government of the federation mr boss mustapha1 others are chief of staff to the president mr abba kyari as well as president buharis senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity mr garba shehu and his personal assistant on social media ms lauretta onochia1

Uganda plans museum on Idi Amins atrocities
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read more18 in its plan to attract tourists the uganda government is building a war museum to showcase the darkest moments from its history including the atrocities of former president late idi amin1 we want to put the record straight uganda tourism board chief executive stephen asiimwe said1 history gets richer its like red wine it gets more interesting as the years go by mr asiimwe said1 he said that the project was not intended to be insensitive or voyeuristic1 i lived through the idi amin era as a young boy my fellow students lost their parents to the regime he said1 however you cannot run away from history. these are facts1 mr asiimwe said every destination has its own traditional culture and attractions1 in uganda we have wildlife mountain gorillas. but we are trying to retrace the past1 showcasing ugandas history would make the east african country a richer place for tourists to visit he added1 more recently ugandans have had to deal with the lra which has claimed to be fighting to install a government based on the biblical ten commandments1 atrocities committed under amins brutal eight-year rule and by the lords resistance army lra are to be documented1 its leader joseph kony is wanted for war crimes and the group continues to operate in northern democratic republic of congo and eastern central african republic1 he was the subject of the kony2012 social media campaign six years ago which detailed his alleged crimes. an online video became a viral sensation with more than 100 million views1 the uganda war museum will also showcase pre-colonial and colonial history1 colonial records were systematically destroyed by britain in a purge known as operation legacy. but the war museum is expected to document some events from the period1 construction has not yet begun but the museum already has its detractors1 john sempebwa the deputy executive director of the tourism board told voa he disagrees with his colleagues who suggest ugandans are ready to revisit the more painful details of their past1 society is divided. there are people who are still around who dont have good memories of amin. now not only wont they come they might burn this place down he said1 profile idi amin1 joined the army the kings african rifles in his 20s. seized power in 1971 less than 10 years after ugandas independence. some 400000 people are believed to have been killed under his rule. expelled ugandas entire asian population in 1972 accusing them of milking the economy. a convert to islam he took five wives fathered dozens of children and insisted on being called big daddy. he declared himself king of scotland banned hippies and mini-skirts and awarded himself the victoria cross. ousted b1 formed in uganda more than two decades ago the group became notorious for chopping off peoples limbs and abducting children to use as soldiers and sex slaves1

Ghana denounces Jonathan over Nigeria
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the other alleged remark that ghana is not nigeria where cattle can roam about anyhow has never been made by president akufo-addo. that is not his way of speaking1 ghanas high commissioner in nigeria mr. rashid bawa has denounced ex-president jonathan for misquoting president nana akuffo-addo over security situation in nigeria1 the high commissioner said nigerias ex-president misquoted ghanas presidents speech delivered by at the oxford african conference1 he recalled the exact words of president akufo-addo for most of you in the audience today it is probably before your time. but in the late 1970s up to the mid-1980s as a result of the discovery of considerable petroleum deposits nigeria was booming. it was the place to be1 we ghanaians who were going through very difficult times then would arrive at heathrow airport and be herded into a cage to be subjected to the full third degree by immigration and we would look on as our nigerian cousins would be waved through with a welcome sir and a welcome madam1 the newspaper headlines in this country were full of nigerians leaving or forgetting bundles of money in taxis and telephone booths. nigerians were the preferred tenants for those who had apartments to let. you could stop by any thomas cook shop on any high street in this country and buy or sell naira the nigerian currency and you could do the same in new york and i suspect in many other western country cities1 i do not need to spell out todays reality to anyone in this audience. i cite this just to make the point that the the outside world is well able to tell that there are separate sovereign nations on the african continent. but when the news is not good then africa is treated as one entity1 bawa disagreed also with jonathans reference to akufo-addos purported disposition towards cattle-rearing1 he said on friday that jonathan took the words of president akufo-addo completely out of context when he quoted the ghanaian leader of mocking nigeria1 president akufo-addo in many of the speeches he has made in nigeria and elsewhere since becoming the president of ghana has described nigeria as a country i describe as my second home in the world and will never use nigeria to make negative examples as the former president goodluck jonathan sought to portray1 president akufo-addo enjoys a very good relationship with president muhammadu buhari as he has with many other nigerian leaders1 ghana and nigeria are like siblings and it would be most inappropriate because of politics for anyone regardless of his or her status in society to try to sow seeds of discord amongst the leadership and peoples of our two countries1 jonathan had at the commissioning of a flyover in ado ekiti said that nigeria had deteriorated so much that it had lost its respect in africa1 jonathan in his speech at the inauguration on may 25 said a president of a neighbouring country ghana recently made two negative remarks about nigeria. first the current ghanaian president was addressing ghanaians about the movement of cattle within their shores and he said openly that ghana is not like nigeria where cattle roam freely. that was quite uncomplimentary1 according to jonathan the same president was speaking in the united kingdom when he made disparaging remarks about nigerias currency1 if it has got to a level when the presidents of neighbouring countries will cite nigeria as a negative example then we must know as leaders of this country that certain things are not going well and we must change the way we do things1 source with additional report from nan1

HIV Patients sue Yahya Jammeh for fake cure
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hiv patients sue yahya jammeh for fake cure1 three people with aids who were repeatedly forced to undergo a homemade herbal “cure” in a bogus clinic run by gambia’s former dictator yahya jammeh have launched a case against him1 in a rare example of victims bringing an african autocrat to book at a national court1 lamin ceesay1 fatou jatta1 and ousman sowe described a 10-year nightmare that began when ex-president jammeh1 a high school dropout who ruled the tiny west african nation with an iron fist for 22 years1 in 2007 claimed to have found a secret concoction of boiled herbs that cured aids in three days1

Man mistakes wife for a lion stabs her to death
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man mistakes wife for a lion stabs her to death1 a 38-year-old man1 godfrey sibanda1 from kwekwe in zimbabwe has dodged jail time for stabbing his wife to death with a kitchen knife after he “mistook” her for a lion. sibanda was spared imprisonment after the gweru high court ruled that he was mentally insane1 reports iharare1